To Forgive or To Forget
by Ana Serhaine
Summary: Derek and Meredith have broken up,Derek is tired of Meredith not trusting him and Meredith is tired of Derek pushing her into things that she isn't ready for.Meredith deals with some of her issues,Derek begs her to take him back.Will she forgive or forget
1. The Break up

To Forgive or To Forget

Summary: Meredith and Derek have broken up. Derek is tired of Meredith not trusting him and Meredith is tired of him trying

to push her into things that she isn't ready for. When Meredith works through some of her issues andonce again becomes

the person Derek loves, will she forgive him or will she forget him?

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy. I just like messing in Shonda's world.

Meredith's POV

"I can't do this anymore," he said with that look on his face. The look that told me that he wasn't

pleased with me. And by pleased him, I don't mean anything dirty. It was similar to the look that

my mother gave me when she saw my test scores or anything else that didn't live up to the Ellis

Grey standards. He seemed to be waiting for me to respond, maybe to cry and say that he was

the one and only for me. But I didn't say that, I couldn't. How could I say that he was my one

and only when he kept putting other people before me? I bet that if I hadn't confronted him

about the kiss, he wouldn't have told me. Just like he wouldn't have told me about his wife if

she hadn't shown up and introduced herself.

"Guess what," I said as these thoughts chased each other throughtout my head. "Neither can I."

and I walked away without looking back.

Regular POV

Within hours, the entire hospital of Seattle Grace was buzzing with the fact that Meredith Grey

and Derek Shepard were no longer together. Money changed hands and the scrub nurses

huddled together in small groups to talk about the rumor. Miranda Bailey's former intern

Cristina Yang didn't usually like to listen to gossip. But when she had been looking for a patient

chart, the nurses were talking.

"I heard that he dumped her because she was sleeping with someone else," one nurse giggled at

the other.

"I heard it was the other way around," the other one said.

"What are you all talking about?" asked one Isobel Stevens as she walked up the the nurse's

station. This was the third group of nurses that she came upon that were talking about someone

breaking up and making up wild stories as to why the break up had taken place.

" Nothing, just the fact that Meredith Grey and Dr. Shepard broke up," the giggly nurse said.

She abruptly stopped giggling when she caught Cristina and Izzie giving her the evil eye.

"Meredith and McDreamy broke up?" Izzie asked Cristina quietly. Cristina turned her head

towards the blonde and thought for a bit before answering her.

"I don't know, maybe the nurses made it up. Let's find Meredith and ask her about it," Cristina

Yang said as she abandoned one search for another.

They found her down in the basement that they had claimed when they were interns. She was

sitting down on one of the gurnies doing what looked like patient charts. Izzie and Cristina

looked at each other. Meredith didn't look like she was all that upset. But history has shown

that Meredith Grey was very adept at hiding her emotions. Cristina and Izzie approached her

cautiously. She knew that they were there, but she figured as long as she ignored them they wouldn't bother her. When

Izzie cleared her throat for the fifth time, she sighed in annoyance and looked up.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked. She knew they knew, but she was curious as to why they weren't doing their

impression of the Spanish Inquisition.

"Nothing," Izzie said cheerfully. Meredith narrowed her eyes and continued to study them.

"Seriously?" she asked

"Seriously," they both replied. Before Izzie and Cristina could interrogate her, George O'Malley

came and sat down next to Meredith.

"I just heard," he said moving to grasp her arm in what was assumed to be comfort. She moved

her arm out of his reach and looked at him.

"What have you heard?" she asked cocking an eyebrow at him.

"That you and Doctor Shepard broke up because of that kiss with Rose."

Izzie and Cristina looked at Meredith in shock.

"What kiss? And who's Rose?" Izzie asked.

All Cristina came up with was her other nickname for McDreamy, McAss. Meredith didn't

answer them so they asked George. Reluctantly he spilled the story. He was near a nurse's

when he heard McDreamy and the Scrub Nurse talking about a kiss. He accidently told

Meredith, who he thought knew about the kiss. Unfortunatley, she had no idea.

but that was as much as he knew. So they returned their gaze to Meredith, obviously wanting

her to pick up where George had left off. She ignored them and went back to doing her charts.


	2. Meredith's Epiphany

Thank you to the three people that have reviewed my story. I really appreciate it.

Derek's POV

'She walked away,' I thought for what had to be the thousandth time. I was sitting at my desk

with the blinds closed and the lights off. I kept replaying the situation in my mind and no matter

how many times I thought about it, I just couldn't rap my mind around the fact that the love of

my life didn't want anything else to do with me.

Someone was knocking on my door but I ignored it. If it was the chief, he would've just walked

in. Finally the knocking stopped and I thought they had left. But then Mark Sloan entered my

office and sat down infront of me.

"Heard an interesting rumor," he said as he placed his hands on the back of his head, his fingers

laced. I didn't answer him. I just leaned back in my chair and continued to study the ceiling and

thinking about Meredith.

"It was quite interesting, not to mention a shock," he said not missing a beat. I finally gave in and

looked at him. He returned the gaze. I arched an eyebrow.

"Rumor has it that you and Miss Grey have called it quits," he said as he watched me.

"For once, the rumor mill around here is accurate."

Mark just looked at me in shock. He knew most of the history between me and Meredith

and he was surprised.

"What happened? You two were fine yesterday."

"No we weren't. We haven't been fine for months."

"What sparked the break up this time?" Mark asked

"How in the hell should I know? One minuter we're talking about the house and next thing I

know, she's asking me if I kissed Rose. I said somethings and she said somethings. I told her

that I couldn't do whatever it was that we were doing and she agreed and said that she couldn't

either. The rest is history." Derek said lifting his head up to look at Mark. Mark opened his

mouth to say something but Derek beat him to the punch.

"You know what, I don't even care. I knew that she was going to do something like this soon.

She always does. This time I beat her and I ended it before she could start pulling away." He

said trying to make it sound humoruous, but it came out forced and and angry. Mark wanted to

say something to defend his fellow dirty mistress, but he knew that if he did that, he would ruin

his friendship with the neuro attending once more. So he stayed quiet and just let the man rant

about how it was Meredith's fault that they had broken up again.

Regular POV

After her friends left, Meredith pushed away her charts and put her head into her hands.

'how did things get so screwed up?' she asked her self. She knew that things had been strained

between them, but she was working to relieve it. She told him that she didn't want to see other

people. She told him that she was trying to deal with her issues. Cristina could back her up on

that one. As she began to list the things that she had done or was doing to get 'ready' she began

to get angry. When was he going to step up? He knew that she had trust issues. Everyone in the

hospital did. But did that stop from giving an unspoken ultimatum; if you aren't ready when I am.

then I'm not waiting. No, instead he made her rush and deal with things when she wasn't ready

because she didn't him to move on and leave her in the dust. The last thought made her lift her

head out of her hands and an epiphany was fast approaching. Why should she be the only one

that had to do every thing to make sure that they stayed together. She told him early on that this

was the first really serious relationship that she had and she had no idea what she was doing.But

he had been married for eleven years, he should be helping her, not forcing her into something

that she wasn't experienced in. She leapt up off of the gurney, grabbed her charts and

practically ran out of the basement.


	3. Invitations and Explanations

Meredith was walking and thinking about the relevations that had come to her in the span of a

few minutes and she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking. She ran smack dab into

her halfsister, Lexie Grey. They both ended up on the floor, but thankfully, the charts they both

were carrying remained intact and together. Meredith stood up and then helped her newly

acknowledged sister up.

"Oh god, are you okay?" Meredith said as she helped Lexie up. Lexie nodded her head and

Meredith saw the remaining hives.

"What happened?" she asked as she tilted Lexie's head up a little bit.

"I had a bit of an allergic reaction," Lexie said as Meredith continued examining her head and

neck.

"To what?" Meredith asked as she let Lexie's head go.

"To the avocado that was in the omlettes this morning," she said sheepishly. Meredith stood

there quietly for a few minutes.

"That's just great. I give my little sister hives and Derek dumps me for some slutty nurse. This

really isn't my day. I'm sorry Lexie I should of asked if you were allergic to anything when I was

making breakfast this morning," Meredith said as she hung her head.

"That's okay, I didn't know that you put it in there until I had eaten it. Thank you for making

breakfast for us. It was really sweet."

"You've already thanked me like twenty times. You're welcome. To make up giving you

hives,do you want to have a drink with me and everyone at Joe's tonight?" Meredith said

rushing that last part a bit.

"I'd like that very much," Lexie said before the two Grey girls went their seperate ways.

Meredith was met with the sight of the first year residents sitting at the bar with George and

Lexie. Alex Karev and Lexie were talking quietly to each other at one end of the bar and Izzie,

Cristina and George were talking at the other end of the bar. Meredith hung her coat up on one

of the racks by the door and she went to join her sister and friends.

"Hey Meredith," Joe said as she sat down at the bar.

"Hey Joe," Meredith said smiling at him.

"The usual?" he asked reaching for the tequila bottle behind the counter.

"Not tonight, could I get a beer instead?" she asked. The people at the bar stopped talking and

looked at her in shock.

"What?" she asked confused

"Didn't you and Derek break up?" Izzie asked as she looked down the bar towards Meredith.

"Yeah," she asked wondering where this paticular conversation was going.

"Last time that happened, you practically drowned yourself in a tequila bottle. We kind of

expected the same this time around," Alex said as he took a swig of his beer.

"Glad I could prove you wrong," she said as Joe handed her her beer.

"Thanks Joe," she said smiling at him. Joe smiled and winked at her and went back to wiping

down the bar. Her friends looked at her once more in shock. She simply laughed and took a

swig of her beer. Izzie turned to Alex and semi-whispered," I don't know if I like this version of

Meredith."

"I prefer to the depressed mess she was when the She-Shepard was still here," He replied.

Cristina looked over at her person. She was shocked to see her friend be cheerful and even

somewhat flirty. She expected sad sack Meredith.

"Mer, I'm not one to gripe about your new found bright and shiny attitude. I'm just wondering

what sparked it. Last time we saw you, you refused to say anything and you were definetly not

bright and shiny," Cristina said in what seemed to be a single breath. Meredith thought for a

minute before answering. She turned to Cristina and began to explain her epiphany to her friend.

"Remember what I was like when Derek chose Addison?" She asked. Cristina nodded her

head, it wasn't something she wasn't going to forget anytime in the near future.

"When he chose her, I spent half of my time drinking and half of my time wondering what life

would be like if he picked me instead of her. When they got the divorce I was the happiest I

had been in a long time. Everything was going great, but when my mother was lucid for that day,

she said I was ordinary, she said that she raised me to extraordinary." Cristina was going to say

something but Meredith continued of with her explanation

"And I hate to say it, but her words affected me, so when the ferry boat accident happened and

I was in the water, I thought to myself why. Why should I keep fighting? It only lasted a second.

but that second almost cost me my life. Now that I think about it, it was a pretty dumb

decision." Meredith shook her head and went on with her story.

"You were there for the ending of that. Then we started the whole S&M thing. Throughout this

entire soap opera I call my love life, I realized something only a few hours ago. He was pushing

me and kept pushing me," She said taking another pull from her beer. What had started out as a

two person conversation had now expanded to the entire bar and some of the tables closest to

the bar.

"By push you mean what exactly?" Cristina said as soon as Meredith set her bottle back onto

the bar.

"He was urging me to be someone that I'm not yet. He wanted me to be the one waiting, the one

who had to work to keep us together. I was going to have to deal with things on his terms, not

my own. He never said anything out loud. There was that time where he commented that he

didn't want to breathe for me and there was the time when we were talking and he said he

would wait, but he wouldn't wait forever. If you believe that someone is your soulmate, wouldn't

you want to wait for them for eternity if you had to? George actually helped me realize it. See, If

he hadn't told me about the nurse then Derek sure as hell would'nt have, and I'd be somewhere

else beating my head against some psych books." She finished her story and she finished her

beer. Her friends sat in silence. What Meredith had told them really put things in perspective

and Cristina and Izzie even noticed that she was right about Derek trying to make her deal with

her issues on his terms not hers. All five of her friends watched her with pride. They had been

wondering when she was going to call the McAss out on all of the stuff that he had put her

through, and by the sound of things it seemed like it was going to be soon.


	4. Resident just wants to have fun

Meredith spent the rest of the night hanging out with her friends and having a good time. Every

once in a while her mind would stray to Derek and the fact that they weren't together, but then

she remembered that it was mostly his fault and she would push him to the back of her mind.

Her friends, for the most part, were happy that Meredith realized that she had put up with

enough stuff from Shepard. But they couldn't help but worry for their friend. They had seen

Meredith like this before, when she was going out with the vet, but then she went back to being

depressed when she and Derek had gotten together at the prom.Cristina was especially

worried. She had spent enough time reading psych books to know that it wasn't healthy for

Meredith to not deal with the emotions that Cristina was sure she was keeping buried in the

recesses of her mind.

Cristina was snapped out of her thought when Meredith came and dragged her away from the

bar to play darts with Alex. Outwardly, she rolled her eyes at her friends' antics.Inwardly, she

was happy.

Mark Sloane entered the bar and what he saw, he wasn't prepared for. He expected Meredith

to be passed out at the bar, instead she and Cristina were goading Alex. He hung his jacket up

and headed over to the bar.

"Hey Joe, usual?" he said leaning in next to Izzie.

"Evening Dr. Sloane," Izzie said smiling at him. Until recently, Preston Burke had been the

Attending that Izzie liked, but after standing Cristina up her opinion of Burke changed

drastically. Mark Sloane was okay when they were outside the hospital, and the residents put

up with him because he and Meredith were friends.

"Stevens," he said in response.

"How much has she had to drink?" He asked gesturing over to Meredith with his glass of single

malt scotch.

"Surprisingly, not that much. She's had two beers and no tequila." Izzie said following his gaze.

Mark was stunned. Derek was angry and hurt while Meredith was the happiest he had seen

her, ever.

Meredith, Cristina and Alex made their way back to the bar. Alex was sulking because he lost

to two girls and Cristina was smirking because she beat the pants off of Alex and Meredith

shook her head at the both of them. She didn't win, but she was okay with that. She was just

happy to hang out with her friends with out any worries.

"Just suck it up, Evil Spawn," Cristina said as Joe handed her another beer.

"I want a rematch, you cheated," he said glaring at her.

"Quit being a baby," Meredith said as she sat down next to Lexie.

"Good evening Miss Grey," Mark said looking over at her.

"Hey," she said smiling at him. The others thought she might be a little uncomfortable around him

because of his connection with Shepard but they were glad that they were wrong.

"You seem to be in an interestingly good mood considering today's events," he said. Meredith

took a small sip of her third beer and thought before answering.

"I wasn't okay earlier, but I had an epiphany," she said slowly as if trying to find the right words

to say without giving away what she was thinking. Mark raised a questioning eyebrow but he

didn't press her further. He would hear about it tomorrow undoubtly.

_**A/N:**_ _I apologize for not updating sooner, but this weekend has been hectic and my niece _

_decided to use the hard copy of this chapter as a coloring paper. Thanks to every one _

_who has reviewed and added me to their favorite stories and authors. It really means a _

_lot that people like this story considering this is the first story that I've let people read. In _

_the next two chapters she might confront Derek, if not Rose. I haven't decided yet._

_Thanks for reading,_

_Ana_


	5. Resident wants to hide

Meredith was feeling a little more than antsy. She knew that more than half of the bar had heard

why she and Derek had broken up, and she also knew that more than half of the patrons in the

bar were nurses who just lived to spread gossip and generate rumors. She was afraid that they

were going to twist the story around until it was completely false.

'oh well, I'm never going to find out what kind of damage they did if I continue to hide in the

bathroom,' she thought. As if sensing her thoughts Izzie began to bang on the door telling

Meredith to hurry up. Meredith quickly pulled her hair back and opened the door and nearly

received a broken nose from Izzie. Izzie ran into the bathroom but not before yelling she was

sorry.

Meredith smiled to herself as she headed downstairs to get a mug of coffee and a bagel. Alex,

Lexie and George were seated at the table.

"Morning Mer," George said through a yawn. Alex just grunted as he took a sip of much

needed coffee and Lexie waved and wished her sister an entusiastic good morning. Meredith

grinned a little and sat down in the remaining chair.

"How much trouble do you think I'd be in if I don't go to work?" She asked the occupants of

the table. Everyone turned their head and looked at her.

"You can't not go into work," George said. Meredith was his resident and if she didn't go in then

he was afraid that he would be stuck with Sydney, the touchy-feely resident they had when

Bailey went on to Maternity leave.

"Why not?" she asked.

"How about because you're a first year resident and if you don't go in, then you miss the really

good cases and you fail to become the resident that everyone wants to work with and you'll be

stuck doing appendectomies for the rest of your residency,"Alex said.

"Remind me never to ask you for your opinion again," Meredith said looking at him. He just

shrugged his shoulders and went back to his coffee.

"why don't you want to go to work?" asked Lexie. She had a feeling that she already knew the

answer, but she wanted Meredith to say what she was feeling instead of hiding behind her usual

mask and words ' I'm Fine'.

"You know why. I'm worried about the rumors that will pop up because of my little speech last

night," Meredith said before she banged her head on the kitchen table. She did it three times

before Izzie came in and grabbed her by the hair to stop her from doing it again.

"How can you possibly do surgery if you yourself are in the pit for a concussion?" Izzie asked

before releasing Meredith's head. Meredith sighed and looked at her friends and sister. They

knew that she was worried, but she could also tell that they had the confidence in her to live up

to the new image that she was projecting and face the rumors head on. She smiled at them and

left the kitchen to grab her things for work.

When the three residents and interns entered the hospital, they expected to be bombarded.

The three residents sighed and bid the interns goodbye before heading to the lounge to put there

belongings away. Izzie and Alex both gripped Meredith's shoulder in encouragement before

heading off to find their interns. Meredith let loose one more sigh and headed to find her own

residents. Along the way she prayed to whatever god that was looking out for the dark and

twisty people that her coworkers weren't going to hound her about rumors and the truth.

_**A/N:**__ I am so sorry for not updating. It's getting down to the final days of school and my _

_teachers seem to think that doubling everyone's homework will keep everyone focused. _

_That and I suffered from a frustrating case of writer's block. I hope that you all liked this _

_chapter. Derek and Meredith are going to have a much needed talk in Chapter Six. _

_I was wondering if you guys wanted them to get back together in this story, or should _

_Meredith meet someone new. If you could email me and give me some ideas I would _

_appreciate it. My email address is or you can send me an email _

_at _

_Thanks a million for the patience,_

_Ana_


	6. The McCreep

Meredith's fears were unnecessary. She found her interns and proceeded to do her rounds. Not

once did any of the hospital personal attempt to speak with her with the exception of her

interns. She thought that this was a little odd. The first time that she and Derek had split up, it

was the only thing that anyone ever talked about. Even the guys on the psych ward gave her

crap about sleeping with an attending, so here it was the second around and she hadn't heard a

peep.

Anthony Davis, one of Meredith's interns, asked her a question about the patient that they

were supposedto be reporting about. She started to answer his question when Derek stormed

into the room, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out despite the protests from her and

her interns. He kept a strong grip on her arm as he pulled her into one of the on-call rooms. She

wrenched her arm out of his grip and she looked at him with shock before she proceeded to

glare at him.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled. Derek had never acted like this and she

was a little worried.

"We need to talk," he said quietly, but Meredith knew him well enough to detect the furious

tone in his voice.

"And you thought the best way for us to talk was to drag me out of my patient's room and away

from my interns?" she asked increduously. Derek ran a hand through his hair before answering

her.

" I don't know what I was thinking, I heard something and I thought we needed to talk," he said

sitting down on the bottom bunk. Meredith was losing her patience.

"what did you hear?" she asked. He didn't answer for a while and just when Meredith had put

her hand on the door to leave, Derek had started to talk.

"Meredith, what did you say in the bar last night?" he asked finally. Meredith stood there for a

second before answering.

"How did you know I was at the bar?" She asked avoiding his question.

"One of the nurses heard you and she told Rose who told me," he said looking up at his ex.

"If you heard then why do you need me to tell you?" she asked.

"Because I want to know the truth. I want to hear it from you and not from hospital gossip. I

think you owe me that much," he replied looking up at her.

Something inside Meredith snapped as he said that. She stood perfectly still and looked at him

with an amazed expression on her face.

'Did he just say what I think he did?' she thought as she stared at him. Derek stood up and

gazed at her waiting for her to speak.

"What makes you think that I owe you anything?" she spat. Derek recoiled from the furious

tone. The only time Meredith had spoken to him with that tone was when he confronted her

about sleeping with Finn and she yelled at him saying that he didn't have a right to say who she

did or didn't sleep with to get over him.

"You don't get to know anything about me or from me," she said as she tried to open the door.

Derek moved behind her and leaned against the door forcing it closed.

"I do if you go around the hospital spreading nasty stories about me," he said. Meredith opened

her mouth to say something, but then she closed it.

"I wouldn't listen to anything that these nurses tell you," Meredith said

"Why not? They haven't given me any reason not to trust them," he replied

"And I have? I wasn't the one who made out with someone and then didn't mention anything

about it. I wasn't the one with the secret spouse. If anybody can't be trusted, it's you!" she

yelled. Derek got off of the door and looked at her.

"Are you always going to bring up Addison? Because it's time that you got over that! I said I

was sorry and I admitted that it was wrong. So we're squared on that, and as for Rose, we

weren't dating. All we were doing was that stupid Sex and Mockery. You said there weren't

rules. You didn't say that we couldn't date other people. So you don't get to bring that up

either." Meredith didn't even respond. She pushed him out of the way and left the on-call room

in a rage.

'How dare he!!' she thought as she stormed down the hallway. She was so busy mentally

ranting about stupid attendings and their egos that she wasn't paying attention to where she was

going and she ended up running into Alex. She was knocked down while he remained standing.

He bent down to help her and noted the furious look on her face.

"Grey, you okay?" he asked concerned. Meredith looked at him and smiled.

"Guess thinking and walking are very dangerous things to do around here lately," she holding her

arm. Alex saw her hold her arm and went to look at it.

"I'm okay. This is the second time in two days that I fell on it. I just bruised it," she said gently

pulling her arm out of his grasp. Alex was still worried. He saw her walking down the hall and

he was sure that he wasn't imagining the look on her face. He had never seen Meredith look

that angry, except for the time she slammed him against a locker when he gave her crap about

an open-heart surgery.

"Anything happen that I need to know about?" he asked uncertainly.

"Nope, just Derek being an ass. If you'll excuse me, I need to find my interns and make sure

that they haven't killed anyone." she said moving away from him. Alex moved out of her way

and she practically jogged out of the hall way.

Meredith found her interns standing with Dr. Miranda Bailey, aka the Nazi. And by the look

on her face, Meredith knew that Bailey was angry with her.

"Grey!!" Bailey barked as soon as she saw her former intern. Meredith winced and went to

stand in front of her boss. While Bailey wasn't her resident anymore, she was chief resident and

therefore she was involved in everything that the residents did.

"Care to explain why you disappeared in the middle of rounds and left your interns alone?" She

asked loudly. Meredith sighed and fought the urge to hang her head the way she did when her

mother got after her for something.

"Well?" Bailey asked once more. Meredith looked at her and told her that she didn't have a

reason.

"Then do you have a reason why Shepard pulled you out of there?" she asked. Again Meredith

hung her head and said that she didn't have an excuse.

"I have told you once and this is the last time. This is a hospital, not a place for your social life. If

I hear of something like this, I will have no choice but to bring this up to the chief. Do you

understand?" Bailey asked

"Yes, Dr. Bailey, it won't happen again," Meredith said as she gestured for her interns to follow

her.

George was the only one to approach her, the other four hung back. George looked at his

friend and he saw a mixture of frustration and anger on her face.

"Why didn't you tell Dr. Bailey why Shepard pulled you out of the room?" George asked.

Meredith sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time that day and face her friend.

"Because she would've yelled at me and told me that the hospital is a place for sick people, not

a place to discuss my social life. She ended up telling me that anyway."

"What did Derek pull you out for?" He asked unsure if he was invading his friend's privacy.

"He wanted to know what I said in the bar last night. Apparently the nurses were gossiping and

they told the McCreep couple," she said leading down to the hall where they had left off during

rounds.

Meredith entered her patients' rooms and she apologized, saying that she needed to talk to a

doctor about something. The patients for the most part were understanding. Meredith thanked

them for their patience and she proceeded with her rounds, hoping that no more personal

disasters were going to happen today.


	7. What Derek Heard

When lunch had rolled around, Meredith couldn't have been happier. She ditched her interns

and looked for her friends. From where she was standing she saw Alex and Cristina arguing

and she also saw Izzie and George watching the argument like they were watching a tennis

match. Meredith smiled and went to grab some food before going to sit next to her friends.

She grabbed a salad and a bottle of apple juice and went to sit in between Alex and Cristina.

" what's going on?" She asked setting her tray down on the table.

"Evil spawn said that he heard that the McCreep had pulled you off of your rounds and pulled

you into an on-call room," Cristina explained while glaring at him.

"He did," Meredith said taking a sip of juice. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at

her.

"Why?" Izzie asked leaning forward slightly.

"Because apparently some of the nurses told the McNurse that I was spreading evil gossip

about Sheperd around the hospital," Meredith said.

"McNurse?" Cristina asked crinkling her nose at the nickname.

"I couldn't think of anything else to call her," Meredith said sheepishly.

"I can, and none of them civil." Meredith rolled her eyes and speared her salad with a fork.

"He actually believed what the McNurse said?" Izzie asked.

"Apparently. I don't even care what they said, what I do care about is the fact that Derek

completey embarrased me not only in front of the interns but infront of my patients too. Not to

mention that Bailey practically yelled at me in the hallway."

"Have you talked to him at all?" George asked.

"No, I've been avoiding," she said taking a bite of her food. She grimaced and took a quick

drink of her juice.

"You'd think they'd make better food for the staff," she said. Two nurses walked in front of their

table and they stopped to sneer at Meredith. Meredith slammed her drink on the table and

started to get up before Alex pulled her back down.

"Now is not the time or the place," he said letting go of her arm. The nurses quickly walked

away as Meredith glared at them. She pulled her arm of Alex's grip and winced slightly as she

touched the bruised part of her arm.

"You okay?" Izzie asked as soon as she saw Meredith wince.

"Yeah, I ran into Alex earlier and rebruised my arm."

"Why did the nurses stop like that?" George asked

"Probably because they think that they won something by having one of them go out with the

McCreep,"Cristina explained.

"Oh. that makes sense," George said going back to his soda. Meredith sat there and pondered

the nurses actions. None of this made any sense, she and Derek were the main topics discussed

and here it was almost twenty-four hours later and she hadn't heard a peep about anything.

"Just out of curiosity, have you guys heard any rumors pertaining to me or Sheperd?"

Her friends snapped their heads up and looked at her. Meredith was one who usually went out

of her way to avoid gossip, so the fact she was asking about it was a bit of a shock. Izzie

answered first.

"I haven't heard anything about what you said last night, the only things I've heard were about

why you guys had broken up."

The others agreed and said that they hadn't heard anything either and Cristina said she had

better things to do than listen to gossip about McOverly Moussed and his nurse.

Meredith picked up her tray and dumped it into the garbage and proceeded to leave the

cafeteria at a rapid pace.

"Where are you going?"

Meredith turned around but continued to walk.

"To find out what he heard last night," she said.

The first thing she did was check the surgical board to make sure that he wasn't in surgery.

According to the board he wasn't so she went to check out some of his usual haunts. She

checked his office, the bridge that overlooked the parking lot, and some other places. She even

checked some of the on-call rooms but she couldn't find him every where.The last place that

she was going to check out was the Attendings' Lounge. She had her hand on the door, but

before she could open it, the door was yanked out of her grip and she found herself face to face

with Mark Sloan.

"Grey, you realize this is the Attendings' Lounge, don't you?" he asked stepping outside and

closing the door before she had the chance to peek in.

"Yeah, I know. I'm trying to track down Derek. Do you know where he is?" She asked.

"Can't say that I do," he said, not meeting her eyes. "But if I do see him, I can tell him that

you're looking for him."

"Thanks, Mark. I'd appreciate it," she said absently. Something about the way Mark was acting

seemed suspicious. She was half way down the hall when she realized that he had lied.

' That's why he wouldn't look me straight in the eyes,' she thought as she walked over to the

lounge once more. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

Derek and Mark were sitting across from each other and they were talking. They shut up and

looked at the door. Both of them were shocked when they saw Meredith standing there.

"What are you doing in here?" Mark asked as he fidgeted under the glare that she had sent his

way.

"You have no idea where he is, huh?" she asked sarcastically. Derek sighed and pinched the

bridge of his nose. Mark shifted his gaze between the two of them. He got up and slowly made

his way to the door. Derek looked up when he saw his best friend stand up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I sensed that you two need to talk, and if something unfortunate should happen, I don't want to

have to testify against either one of you in a court of law," he said while he gave them what he

hoped was an innocent smile.

"Coward," Derek said before Mark closed the door. Mark opened it enough to stick his head

in and glare at his friend then he closed it again. Meredith sat down in Mark's seat and looked

at Derek.

"You said this morning that the McNur...I mean Rose heard something from her friends this

morning. Would you mind telling me what they said?" she asked hoping that she could diffuse

some of the tension in the room.

"You didn't want to talk earlier, so what makes you think that I want to talk about it now?" he

asked rudely.

"I didn't want to talk because hey, you pulled me off of my rounds and embarassed me infront

of my patients and interns, not to mention the ass chewing I got from Bailey because of what

you did! So sorry if I didn't want to talk about what the McNurse heard from her skanky

friends!" she said, her temper overriding her need to keep the peace between them. Derek let a

small smile appear on his face.

"McNurse?" he asked. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes, McNurse. I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't have the nurses all over my case."

Derek's smile slowly left his face when he thought about her words. She was right and he was

man enough to admit that he made a mistake.

"Mer, I'm sorry about this morning. It's just that Rose came to me before work and she said

that her friends heard you say some pretty mean things about her and me. I just needed to know

what you said, but I acknowledge that I over stepped some boundaries and I apologize for it," he said bowing his head slightly.

She sighed and told him, "Don't apologize, it's a sign of weakness." He smiled and looked at her.

"Rose approached me on the elevator this morning. She was crying and when I asked her what was wrong she said that I needed to ask you. What did you say?"

"First of all, I never said anything negative about Rose, I never did that with Addison so there is no reason that I would do that to her. And second of all, the nurses

live to make doctors lives miserable, or at least they live to make mine miserable so they would probably say things that make me seem like a total bitch."

"I'm sorry that I thought that you would bad mouth Rose. I know you better than that. But the nurses aren't trying to make your life miserable. Sure they like to

gossip and they can be vindictive but they aren't out to get you personally," he said leaning back in his chair.

" What did they say that made Rose start to cry?" She asked getting back to the topic at hand. Derek sighed once more and leaned his head back so he was looking

directly up at the ceiling.

"She said that her friends said that you said that she was an idiot for going out to dinner with me and if she was smart enough that she would ditch me for someone

that didn't go out with another person the day that they break up with their girlfriend. Then she said something along the lines of what could you expect, she was

stupid enough to go out with someone who keeps secrets. Then she said that you and Cristina had spent the rest of the evening drinking and talking trash about the

two of us."

Meredith sat there and listened to everything that he said. When he finished repeating what the McNurse had said, she sat there with her mouth hanging open.

"Derek, I never said anything like that. My friends wanted to know why I wasn't on intimate terms with Jose Cuervo last night. I told them that I thought about why

we had broken up and I told them I had an epiphany as to why we couldn't make it as a couple. Rose might've come up in the conversation, but I never said

anything negative about her. And for the record, I didn't drink all that much. I had maybe a total of two and a half beers and absolutely no tequila. You should tell

her to check her sources a little more carefully."

By the time Meredith was done speaking, she was panting slightly and from the way she was sitting all stiff-like, Derek could tell that she was beyond angry.

Then she turned the rant towards him.

"And you should've known better! I don't care what you do with your life. I honestly don't. But I am deeply insulted that you would think that I had nothing better to

do than to sit around and talk trash about you and her. That's Cristina's thing, not mine. Ask Mark if you want, he was there at the bar with us." she said leaping up

from the chair and leaving the room at a fast pace.


	8. Who is that mystery man?

A/N: Once again I am so sorry for not updating this story. Shortly after getting my laptop fixed, I hit a massive brick wall with this story and no matter how many

times I tried to write this chapter it kept coming out wrong. So I decided to take a break from all of my projects in hopes of being inspired once more to take this story where I want to go. And on that paticular note, This story is still set in early season four, and it will not have any of season five in it. That is only because I haven't seen any of the episodes for it. So, as of this moment I am making this story AU.

Thanks again for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Ana

p.s. Please let me know if you all would like me to continue with it. Thanks.

Disclaimer:_ i don't own Grey's anatomy. All I'm Doing is playing with the characters lives_

Meredith stomped her way to the front door of her house and yanked it open. She let it hit the wall as she made her way upstairs.

'How dare they!' she thought as she marched into her room. She took her bag and threw it down onto the ground next to her bed. She then sighed and threw herself

onto her bed like she used to do when she had a bad day or her mother forgot one of her school functions again. She just laid there and hoped that by the time that

her friends got home, she would be in a much better mood. She closed her eyes and in her mind's eye she began to play one of her mother's surgical tapes. That

calmed her down some, and before she knew it she had fallen asleep.

It was dark when Meredith woke up. She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Something wasn't quite right with the house. She stopped rubbing her eyes

and looked around her room.

"Nothing wrong in here," she said as she got up off of the bed. She made her way downstairs and that's when it hit her. Her friends weren't home. She looked at the

clock on the microwave and she saw that it was past nine.

"Where are they?" she asked out loud. She went into the living room and she checked the answering machine. There was three messages on there. She pressed play

and listened to them.

"First unheard message," the mechanical voice said.

"Meredith! Where are you?" Izzie's voice came on the answering machine. "We're at Joe's if you want to come by, call me when you get this. Bye."

"eight-fifteen p.m. Next message."

A man's voice came on the phone and Meredith froze when she heard it.

"Hey Meri, it's Aaron. I was just calling to see how you were doing and to tell you that I'll be in Seattle for the next couple of weeks. If you want to get together give

me a call. Talk at ya later, Hot stuff. Oh, I guess you need my number, huh. Its 555-3478. Bye"

Meredith stopped the machine before it could play the third message. She grabbed the pad next to the phone and quickly wrote down the number. She then

grabbed the phone and punched in the number. She walked into the kitchen and hopped up on the counter waiting for the phone to pick up.

"James," the voice said.

"Hey Aaron, it's Meredith," she said shly.

"Meri?"The voice sounded surprised. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I was surprised that you managed to find me. Not many people know that I'm back in Seattle." She said with a smile on her face and in her voice.

"Honey, I'm a federal agent. I can find anyone."

"Don't get me started. What brings you to Seattle?" She asked.

"I'm working on a case."

"Want to get together?" Meredith blurted out. There was silence and then Aaron laughed.

"I'd love to. But you're going to have to pick me up," he said laughing.

"Okay. Where are you staying?" she asked grabbing the same pad of paper. She wrote down the address and the name of the hotel.

"Am I going to have to explain anything to your partner again?" Meredith asked, remembering the last time that she and Aaron James had met up.

"Maybe. Hold on." he said something to the person that was in the same room as him and Meredith heard a man and woman laugh.

"Chris and Paige say hello and they told me to tell you that you can't keep me out that late. The FBI has given us a bed time." Aaron said as he chuckled. Meredith laughed.

"Tell them that they don't need to worry. I have to be at work at five in the morning," Meredith said as she hopped off of the counter. She opened the fridge and

pulled out a cold piece of pizza. She took a bite.

"What are you eating? Pizza?"

"You know me so well. Be ready in fifteen minutes." Meredith said as she ran to hang up the phone. She grabbed her jacket, ran upstairs to grab her purse and ran

out the door.

Meredith pulled up to the Plaza and went inside. She glanced around the lobby and smiled when her sight landed on a very familiar face. She walked up behind

him and placed her hands over his eyes. Deep down she knew that it wasn't a good idea to do that to a fed but when they dated, it was always how they had

greeted each other.

"Guess who?" she said as she placed her hands carefully over his eyes. She could feel him smile as he ran a hand over hers. He got up, pulled her hands off of her

eyes and looked down at her.

"Meredith Grey, you haven't changed a bit," He said as he scooped her up into a giant bear hug. She returned the hug with the same amount of force and then they

let go of each other.

"I could say the same, but I'd be lying," she said as she gazed at the man before her, and what she saw she liked. His appearence hadn't changed a bit. His hair was

still short and spikey, and his green eyes still shown as brilliantly as she remembered. He was wearing his trade mark leather jacket over a black tee shirt, blue jeans,

and his typical work boots. She could faintly see the outline of his gun.

"Are you saying that I've changed dramatically?" he asked as he watched her inspect him.

"Nope, if anything you've gotten better looking," she said smiling at him. She took him by the hand and led him outside to her car.

Aaron hopped into the passenger seat and buckled up. Meredith did the same thing. Once they were buckled in she started the car and off they drove.

"So where are we going?" Aaron asked as they passed through the streets of Seattle.

"Joe's," Meredith said as she turned on the wind sheild wipers. It had started raining lightly and it was getting heavier by the minute.

"What's Joe's?" Aaron asked as he gripped the seat arm when Meredith took a sharp left.

"It's a bar that is across the street from where I work. It's my home away from home," she said flashing him a sly smile. He gulped and turned to face out the

window.

She pulled up to an empty spot in the parking lot and got out of the car.

"Fair warning," Meredith said as she held the passenger side door open for Aaron. " You might get a few strange looks. This is the first time that I have brought

someone here instead of meeting them and heading home with them."

"Noted. Should I bring the gun or leave it in the car?" He asked looking at her.

"What would make you more comfortable?" Meredith asked as she looked at him.

"I would love to have it with me, but at the same time, I don't want to scare the hell out of anyone either," he said.

"Hey, if we can survive a bomb in the OR I'm pretty sure a gun is not going to bother them. Besides they are going to want to know what you do for a living,"

Meredith said as she shut the passenger door. Aaron froze as he processed what she said.

"A bomb in the OR? Were you anywhere near it?" he asked concern for the past event evident in his eyes.

"I'd say no, but then I would be lying, I was the one that held it steady in the body when the bomb squad was busy running around like a chicken with it's head cut

off, It went off just outside of the OR, I was caught in the backdraft of the explosion," she explained rather quickly. Aaron remained silent. She looked at him and

saw that he was trying his hardest not to say anything that he would regret.

"Why don't we go in," she said taking him by the hand. He followed her silently into the bar where he might meet a fate worse than death.


	9. Oh Boy

A/N: I'm sooo sorry for not updating this. I kinda lost my way with this story and didn't know where I wanted to go with it. Any who, thank you all for your extreme patience with me and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Just a warning, Derek is extremely OOC. Story is still AU. Enjoy.

When Meredith and Aaron had entered the bar, the majority of it went silent. Meredith and Aaron gulped, looked at each other and made their way up to the bar. Everyone they passed stopped what they were doing to watch them go by. Izzie, Alex, George and Cristina were perhaps the only ones in the entire establishment who didn't put down their drinks. Meredith motioned Aaron to stand behind her and she walked up to the bar. "Hey Dr. Grey," Joe said "Hey Joe, could I have a couple of beers?" Meredith asked.  
"Sure," he handed her two of them and she gave Aaron one "Meredith, I can't drink while I'm on assignment, you know that," Aaron said as he placed the alcoholic drink back onto the bar. Izzie and the rest turned to look at the new comer. He gave them a small smile and he winked at Izzie. The blonde resident blushed and immediately returned her attention to her drink. Alex, George, and Cristina started bombarding Meredith with questions.  
"Mer, who is this guy?" Alex asked, concerned that she met another potential one night stand.  
"Relax, he's an old friend of mine from Boston. Alex, George and Cristina meet Aaron James. Aaron these are my fellow residents and my best friends. This is Cristina Yang, George O'Malley and Alex Karev." Meredith said as she pointed to each one of her friends.  
"Oh, I almost forgot Izzie. She was the blonde sitting at the bar." Meredith said as she stood on her tippy toes to see and point to the blonde.  
"Nice to meet you all." Aaron said as he nodded his head "Likewise," George said as he extended his hand. Alex and Cristina nodded their heads and pulled Meredith to the side.  
"Mer, where did you meet him?" Alex said. "Relax," she said again moving her captured arm out of his grasp. "I met him while I was in med school. He and my mom were mutual acquaintences and I met him through her. Never thougt that it would actually work between the two of us though."  
"Oh," Alex said, seemingly satisfied with her story.  
"Did you two ever have a thing?" Cristina asked.  
'Of course she would ask that,' Meredith thought as she took a deep breath.  
"Yeah we did."  
"What happened, why did you guys split up? Was he another McCreep?" Cristina asked. Meredith laughed.  
"Whats so funny?" Alex asked.  
"Aaron is the exact opposite of Derek. He likes to go out and have fun. He has a great personality. He can be rough and rowdy when he wants to be or the occasion calls for and and never once when we were together did he ever string me along or kiss another woman and not tell me. Not to mention he was never married, other than to his job. And as to why we broke up. Mom started getting sick and I accepted the internship to Seattle Grace." she explain. The others guessed that there was more to the story, but from the look on her face, they weren't going to get any more information from her. "Oh, we should warn you that the McNurse and her friends are here, and they are looking pretty smug tonight," Alex said before he and cristina returned to the bar.  
"what was that about?" Aaron asked as he slipped behind her to hand her the beer that she left on the counter.  
"Nothing, they just like to worry about me," Meredith said as she turned to face him. He smiled and bent his face down to hers. Meredith knew what he was trying, while they were good in a relationship together, they were even better without one. They had both been obsessed with their careers and had often neglected each other, so they decided mutually that they would remain FWBs. "Aaron, I can't," meredith said as she turned her face away from him.  
"Why?" he asked. He was concerned about the sudden change in her demeanor, " Meri, what's wrong, I was going to give you a quick kiss, I wasn't going to stick my tongue down your throat unless of course you want me to." "I'm sorry. You see those women across the bar?" Meredith asked as she pointed to the nurses. Aaron nodded his head.  
"My ex-boyfriend's current thing is in there and I really don't need to give him any more ammunition against me right now," Meredith said. "Not to be rude Meri, but I don't see how kissing you is going to give your ex the ammo he needs." Aaron said skeptically.  
"Trust me, love," she said as she pat his arm. Meredith spent the better part of an hour letting Aaron know about the escapades that took place during her internship with some commentary from the others, which was more often than not total and complete lies. They all were having a good time getting to know the man that managed to worm his way into the Infamous Meredith Grey's heart.  
It was almost time for them to head home to get at least a couple hours of sleep when Meredith and Aaron were approached by none other the the McCreep Couple.  
"Hello Dr. Grey," Rose said respectively. Meredith nodded her head, she didn't say anything because it was obvious that she and Derek had been drinking.  
"So found someone else already? Sure took you long enough, what has it been? Two, three days?" Derek asked as he slurred his words just a little. Meredith looked past him and glanced at her friends, they were in as much awe as she was. She had never, ever seen in the history that is them this drunk. Buzzed, yes but never so drunk that he was actually slurring his words.  
"How much have you had to drink?"  
" That Dr. Grey, is none of your concern," Derek snapped. She turned her attention to Rose. " Is he sleeping in his office?" Meredith asked over him.  
" No, I'm driving him home," Rose said. Aaron heard the other interns take in a collective breath. "Why the hell do you care? You're the one who said that we were through. You were the one who said that you didn't care what I did with the rest of my life." Derek said as he tried to pull his weight off Rose's shoulder. He turned to Aaron.  
" Watch out for this one. She'll break you and throw you away like yesterday's garbage," Derek said. Meredith couldn't believe what she was hearing. This is the man she could've possibly had a future with?  
" Thanks for the advice bud, now here's some for you. Next time you give a stranger advice about a woman, make sure the man isn't one who came half way around the country just to see her," Aaron said, the phoniest of phony smiles on his face. Derek seemed to be at a loss, or maybe it was the amount of alcohol he had consumed, but Aaron's words didn't seem to register in the man's brain.  
"She's a good lay, but try no to get emotionally attached, she might try to jump of a bridge to get away from you." The entire bar froze. Every employee at Seattle Grace knew how hard it had been for Miranda's interns when Meredith had almost drowned, but it was even harder on Meredith.  
She got out of her seat and calmy walked up to the inebriated attending. She smiled at Aaron and her friends. Aaron knew that smile and he knew what was coming. Meredith curled her hand up into the fist, and punched Derek squarely in the mouth.


End file.
